Steenberg’s Catharina’s offers a feast of contemporary classics for vegetarians. Archie McLean offers some real gems on his Spring Menu.
Patina – Ryan Richens back in the Southern Suburbs with a fine Steak Restaurant, a legend in the making
Virgil Kahn's hand is on the tiller on the kitchen of Indochine Restaurant on The Delaire Graff Estate. Well known for its Eastern inspired dishes. And of course fine wines.
Matt Day & Franck Dangereux Last week, I think we experienced some of the finest cooking in the Cape paired by Franck Dangereux, chef patron of The Food Barn and Matt Day, driven winemaker at Klein Constantia. The invitation was one we could not refuse. Matt and Franck have wanted to do this some time
Michael Deg, Executive Chef at Delaire Graff Restaurant When announcements are made for national restaurant competitions, Top Tens, The Best in the Land, or whatever, I am always surprised not to see Michael Deg’s name on the list. Here is a young chef who is passionate and dedicated and talented, who for me rises above
Table Mountain from the De Grendel Restaurant As they say in the Michelin guide, De Grendel Restaurant is well worth the drive, not the detour. This is a destination to a place of great views, great wines and award winning food. Sir de Villiers & Lady Graaff De Grendel is owned by the Graaff Family
Michael Broughton and the team from Terroir Michael Broughton, renowned and much lauded chef of Terroir on the Kleine Zalze Estate is such a modest chap. His food is ambrosial and it is no mistake in the judges in the national competitions choosing him for awards. I have eaten at Terroir over a number of
Massimo & Tracy Orione If you pressed 5 Capetonians to tell you which is their favourite Italian Restaurant, you would probably get 5 different answers. Press me and I till tell you that Massimo’s in Hout Bay is mine by a country mile. Massimo and Tracy Orione run a truly superb operation. Recognised last year
The Shortmarket Club…clubby interior An invitation to lunch at The Shortmarket Club is hardly one that you regret. Luke and Sandalene Dale-Roberts partner with Simon Widdison, front house manager from the Pot Luck Club and Wesley Randles, Luke’s former head chef. Wesley Randles & Simon Widdison Mark Rautenbach's Butterfly Installation behind them The staff are
The Pot Luck Club Head Chef Wesley Randles & Chef Proprietor Luke Dale-Roberts CAPE TOWN will get even hipper in June when Luke Dale-Roberts’s Shortmarket Club opens in the heart of the Mother City. Launching by Chef Wesley Randles and restaurateur Simon Widdison, both from current The Pot Luck Club fame, The Shortmarket Club is
Morgenster Manor House with its banks of hydrangeas & agapanthus I have such happy childhood memories of Morgenster, as you enter off Lourensford Road on the left is an open field which was used for polo playing in the early 1950s. My father was playing polo and we took a picnic. Also present, though I
Cuvée Restaurant on Simonsig Wine Estate How the Cape winelands have changed over the past fifteen years in terms of tourist offerings! A decade or two ago, one would be lucky to find a few pieces of cheese and a chunk of bread to accompany your wine-tasting at an estate. Today many of South Africa’s
Always beautiful flowers at the entry of the hotel There are restaurants in Cape Town that have the most special situations and The Camissa Brasserie at The Table Bay Hotel on Cape Town’s iconic Waterfront is one of them. A stunning view over Cape Town’s busy harbour and Table Mountain brooding benignly over all.We were
The Simonsberg from Indochine If you ever create your Restaurant Bucket List, Indochine on the Delaire Graff Estate should be up somewhere near the top. Virgil Kahn, chef at Indochine Delaire Graff has been a website partner of ours for a couple of years and it was good to accept an invitation from Tanja McKay
Nicole Dupper, Executive Chef, outside Imibala Restaurant & Deli I visited the Imibala Restaurant in Somerset West last week to have a try out of Nicole Dupper’s new Winter Menu. Nicole specialises in bistro style meals, a number of them old favourites of hers, but all of them real nostalgia food, comfort food
Hemelhuijs - Jacques Erasmus I must confess to a genuine interest in Hemelhuijs. I am totally biased, having eaten there a few times and just love Jacques Erasmus. I love his talent, his take on design, his approach to food, he is such a special person. The restaurant world of Cape Town is
Ryan's Kitchen at sunset One does not turn down an invitation from Ryan and Lana Smith to have a meal at their restaurant in Franschhoek, Ryan’s Kitchen. We chose a Saturday lunch time – yes good news, Ryan’s is open now for lunch except Sundays. We had eaten Ryan’s food before when the
The Imibala Restaurant The Imibala Trust is doing wonderful work in the Helderberg. Imibala, Xhosa for colours, is a social movement of commitment towards enriching, bringing colour, into the lives of school going children in many significant ways. CLICK HERE to read more. Nicole DupperExecutive Chef at The Imibala Restaurant The
Where it all starts, Brad Ball in his garden To be invited to have supper by Brad Ball in his lovely new Italian restaurant Volare in Constantia is an invitation one simply does not turn down. Thoughts of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra singing Volare oh oh, the song that first appeared in
South China Dim Sum Bar from Long Street I have said it before, there are restaurants you wont go back to, restaurants you would like to go back to and those you have to go back to. South China Dim Sum Bar is one you simply have to go back to. The fans
Creator of the magic of Hemelhuijs - Jacques Erasmus When you go back to Hemelhuijs, you chastise yourself for staying away. This is a place to return to again and again. In the four years since Jacques Erasmus opened Hemelhuijs in October 2010, this talented, creative artist on so many levels, has changed
The majestic Simonsberg from the Restaurant balcony Since my first visit to Clos Malverne when I met Seymour and Sophia Pritchard, I fell I love with the place and its wines. My grandfather built a house up in Devon Valley and from childhood, I had a special feeling when I entered into the
Oep ve Keopin Die Winkel op Pater Noster I have for a very long time wanted to eat at Oep ve Koep in Die Winkel op Paternoster, so we went on my birthday, and what a way to celebrate. Kobus van der Merwe has made such a name for himself and his magical
This is what it's all about There are always exciting goings on at The Food Barn down in Noordhoek at The Noordhoek Farm Village. Business partners Franck Dangereux and Pete de Bruyn offer interesting, different and unusual happenings both in the restaurant and in The Food Barn Deli. First up is their fabulous
Leslie Back Leslie Back is one of my favourite food writers, somehow she has the knack of describing the visits she and her husband Eugene make to restaurants so appealing that you feel you simply have to go there. I asked her to let me have a piece she had written about a
Chefs' Warehouse, 92 on BreeBeautiful old Georgian building The Chefs' Warehouse has a new home in Bree Street. Liam and Jan Tomlin are on to a good thing. Liam Tomlin I met Liam shortly after he first came to Cape Town in 2004 when he helped me judge a national wine
Light, airy, modernthis is the new Catharina's I worked out recently when I was invited to come and look at the ‘new look’ Catharina’s Restaurant on the fabulous Steenberg Estate, that I was seeing it in it’s sixth incarnation. White origami swans hang from the raftersand a single black on for the
Luke Dale Robertsin conversation Luke Dale Roberts was not chosen as one of South Africa’s top chefs on a whim. He is a leading cutting edge chef, who is so modest about his achievements. I have been fortunate to dine on several occasions at The Test Kitchen and The Pot Luck Club in
Steenberg's Cellar Door & Bistro 1682 An invitation from Anetha Homan, Marketing whizz at Steenberg, and Cape Town’s PR whizz Janie van der Spuy of Five Star PR, to lunch at Bistro 1682 to try Brad Ball’s new Summer Lunch menu is one not to be turned down. Steenberg Chef Brad Ball
Dup and Sarah du Plessis took the brave step and moved their Café Dijon in Stellenbosch high street to Green Point in Cape Town recently. Dup’s grandfather told him, “always have a business from which you can see Table Mountain!”. I enjoyed more than a couple of excellent meals at Café Dijon Stellenbosch
I have long wanted to go to Hemelhuijs knowing of the talents of Jacques Erasmus. After all he did the food concept at Restaurant Cuvée at Simonsig, and the playful plate chandeliers at La Motte, his food is the stuff of which legends are made. This man is a major talent and Hemelhuis
Harbour House, Kalk Bay Harbour I won a voucher to have lunch at Harbour House by suggesting a chilled Kleine Zalze Gamay Noir as the perfect wine to go with a fish dish on Clare Mack’s lovely website www.spill.co.za - a good read by the way, so go visit there occasionally. We went
You can’t go much higher in altitude than Hidden Valley Winery, Dave Hidden’s eyrie up on the west facing slopes of the Helderberg. Home of the delicious Hidden Valley Pinotage and Land’s End Sauvignon Blanc, which is made from grapes from his Elim Vineyards You can’t go much higher up the culinary ladder
Margot Janse To eat the food of Margot Janse in The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francaise in Franschhoek is to sit at a table in Lucullan heaven. We dined there recently on a warm late summers evening where Margot fed us her choice of the most enchanting, delicious, amusing, unfiddled with genuine
The Bombay Brasserie Chandeliers I had the most amazing food experience at The Bombay Brasserie at the newly opened Taj Hotel at the top of Cape Town opposite the daoor to St George's Cathedral. Razvan Macici I lunched with a trio of winemakers from the famed Nederburg Winery, Razvan Macici
Is it just me or are there more professional waiters around now than there used to be when I was running a restaurant 15 years ago in Cape Town? And by professional I mean – this is my only job! We struck it really lucky with Tina at a very happy evening at
We have visited Haiku many times and each time we go back we wonder why we take so long to get back. So here’s a quick line up of what we experienced when we went back there for Madeleine’s birthday recently. We had a excellent waiter called Eric, a professional in that this
Woodpecker Mall, Main Road, Sedgefield [next to the only Pharmacy in town!] Tel: [044] 343-1867 Madeleine and I often visit Sedgefield and each time we go, we eat at a little Trattoria in the main street of this coastal town between George and Knysna. Run by Steve and Leah Baleta, the food is
Brenton Rd, Belvidere, Knysna Tel: 044-386-0005 Open for Dinner Wednesday to Sunday Lunches on Sundays Peter Vadas and I worked together some 35 years ago when we were young and beautiful and now he and his wife Vivienne run this delightful restaurant overlooking the lagoon at Knysna. Peter is a really superb chef
Franck Dangereux One thing about Franck Dangereux, one of my most favourite Cape Chefs, is his passion. Passion for life, passion for his family and his passion for creating the most outstanding food. And one thing he’s really passionate about is his business in partnership with 'my buddy' the equally passionate Peter de
Brad's Grill in 2nd Avenue, Harfield Village, Kenilworth [021] 671 2527, is a hugely successful restaurant because of - well Brad! He's been there for 30 years and he plays to his audience to perfection and he's just always there. His meat is superb - he told us that his brother is in